Miso Shiru for Your Romantic Soul
by fluffybluff
Summary: A series of random, simple and romantic one shots circles around Kenshin and his friends in AU setting (All favourite pairs) Chapter 1: Relationships are fragile when you're feeling insecure, that even a mere physical distance can destroy it. Kaoru is trying hard to run away from Kenshin, hoping that if she didnt listen, the word "break up" would never come out of his mouth. (KK)


A/N: Don't curse me for starting a new story without finishing the old ones. Believe me, they are on progress!

This fic is a series of one shots that are heavily related to each other. The idea is basically the same as my other fic called Cherries and Plums, but this one is AU and more romance oriented (Cherries and Plums for me is more family oriented even though there are romance in it as well).

When making the story, my boyfriend asked me if I could write something without any name in it, so I did. The version without even a single name in it was given to him, while this one has like, 2 Kenshins and 2 Kaorus in total. Haha. Anyway, I hope you'll review my writings as always, and enjoy :)

XXX

Waiting

XXX

30 minutes.

She was already waiting for 30 minutes under the cold weather, and by now he would have ran from the station to their meeting place with a panicked expression painted all over his face.

He would arrive panting and sweating, no matter how cold the weather was, and by the time he caught his breath again, he would start apologizing over and over again. After that, they would go to eat either at the ramen restaurant they frequented during their university days, the newly opened pasta place that was a little expensive, the yakitori stand close to the station, or the small bar/bistro around the corner.

Their talks were mostly about work lately. He was a newcomer in his company, yet he was trusted with a lot of responsibilities and opportunities. She, on the other hand, decided to live a modest life, reviving her small doujo that she inherited from her father. The corporate language and the small doujo language were quite different; sometimes they felt the gap with each other became just a little bigger.

 _It was really strange_ , she sometimes thought. Just a year ago, they were speaking the same language.

He was a kendo captain in middle school, high school and even in the university. She was also a kendo captain in middle school, high school and in the university she had to share her position with him. Being co-captains, they both got really close. They went to watch kendo competitions together, practiced together and talked about kendo all the time. He was always so happy when talking about it and she could feel his love for kendo when she looked at him, holding his shinai with a focused, passionate eyes.

Being the captain, she took care of the female team, which consisted on mostly his and his friends' fans (they were all bishounen, apparently) and tried to get those girls who only joined because of the hunks in the male team to like kendo as well. Some of them came to like it, but most would eventually quit and be replaced by another batch of hormonal girls. He, on the other hand, didn't seem to have a problem managing his team. At one point, it made her slightly jealous that he got all of the respect and admiration from everyone, while she was nicknamed "the brute".

The nickname was something people close to her teased her about, so she never really thought about it and even found it pretty funny, but he was the one who got a little worked up about it. She thought it was because she was his close friend, with his kindness and the way he acted around her, she knew that he was comfortable with her. He found ways to avoid his rabid fangirls and had dinner with her after practice. He brought things that made her happy, like her favourite food or the cd she wanted to listen to. He took her out to watch kendo competitions or took her too fun places like amusement park or bowling alley.

Before his final match, he sat her down in the ramen shop they frequented and told her that he wanted to work a corporate job, as opposed to everyone's thought that he was going to do something that had a connection with kendo. He explained to her how he loved kendo and how his time being co-captain with her was a precious time for him. He then went on and on about the two topics in different ways, making her wonder what happened to him. She knew that he had other dreams and it didn't really matter if he continued kendo or not as long as he was happy and satisfied with his life. He blushed a little when she told him this and mumbled.

"Well, I don't want to be hated by you."

She frowned. He was being overly sensitive, which was usually not a part of his character.

"Of course I won't hate you. Why are you so concerned about this?"

"I like you." He said, his voice a little choked. Her face suddenly became heated. It was impossible, she thought. She had liked him for three years, and he treated her like his other guy friends. Moreover, he was surrounded by pretty girls all the time, and she was only a brute who was constantly sweating from the hard training and went around the campus wearing a hakama. "I've liked you for three years now." He continued, and she covered her heated cheeks with her hands.

"No... That's impossible..." She muttered, suddenly stood up from her chair. "No... No! Don't play a prank on me! This is too cruel!" She said, a nervous shiver in her voice. She then took her bag and started running outside the shop. He stood up, frantically took out some money and chased her.

"WAIT!" They ran across the park, jumped over the sandbox, and then ran through the small alley. She turned right, towards the station, when he suddenly disappeared from behind her. She looked around, panting hard, and made her way towards the station when a hand stopped her. "I took the shortcut." He said, sweat was falling from his forehead.

Since then, they became inseparable.

"Oh." She was distracted from her daydream by the vibration of her phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, I'm running really late. Let's just meet at the ramen shop?"

"Okay," she answered before hanging up. She looked at her watch and blew some hot air into her hands.

45 minutes.

She had waited for 45 minutes in cold weather, yet there was no hint of panic in his voice like before. He sounded calm, collected... and a little too distant to her liking. She sighed and walked towards the ramen shop, thinking that this day would come eventually, with the pace their relationship was in.

She sat on their usual table and ordered her usual ramen. She would order for him, but then she wondered if he still liked the same ramen he used to like before? She realized that they didn't meet that often anymore and he had developed some new habit and likings when she wasn't around. Their phonecalls, emails and texts became less and less frequent each day, because he was always either working or too tired to talk. It made her insecurities grew but she usually just scolded herself for overthinking it.

Soon, she heard the shop door was opened and a familiar footstep closing toward her. She closed her eyes and waited for him to plant a kiss on her head like he usually did, but nothing came. He took off his coat and sat in front of her with a tired face. He was about to say something when her ramen came.

"You didn't order for me?" He asked.

"I don't know what you want to order." She replied, and he smiled.

"Right. Sorry."

He called the waiter and ordered a bowl of ramen for himself, and then looked at her. She looked at him for a few seconds and then started eating.

"It's hard, isn't it?" He said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. She looked up from her ramen bowl.

"No it's not."

"You've waited for me for an hour."

"55 minutes." She corrected him, and he sighed.

"It's hard to reach me through phonecalls and mails." He continued. "I'm always working or too tired to do anything else."

"But you usually replied in the morning." She said.

"But on a bad day, that reply became the only mail I wrote to you that whole day."

"I understand how busy you are."

He sighed, long and hard. His calm face was tired and gloomy. "I can't live like this." He mumbled.

"I don't mind as long as we keep on trying." She answered.

"This routine only frustrates us." He said. "Listen, Kaoru..."

"KENSHIN. NO." She looked at him, her face is red. "Don't say anything and let me just eat my ramen, okay?"

"Kaoru, listen, this might be hard for you but-"

She slammed her chopstick on the table, and he stopped talking.

"No... Don't say it..." She muttered, suddenly stood up from her chair. "No... No! This is too cruel!" She said, her voice layered with a nervous shiver that sounded familiar to him. She then took her bag and started running outside the shop. He stood up, looking at the owner of the shop, who just waved his hand, telling him to go. It was, after all, the same scene the shop owner saw just a little more than a year ago.

"WAIT!" They ran across the park, jumped over the sandbox,and then ran through the small alley. She turned right, towards the station, when he suddenly disappeared from behind her. She looked around, panting hard, and made her way towards the station when a hand stopped her. "I took the shortcut." He said, this time he was shivering instead of sweating like last time.

Her knees became weak and she sat on the pavement, started sobbing uncontrollably. He sighed, sat beside her and hugged her until her sobs had lessened.

"Why are we doing this again..." He mumbled, and looked at the woman he loved clutching his wrinkled suit.

"Don't leave me..." She muttered between her sobs. He sighed again. He loved this woman, but sometimes her ability to overthink everything was unbearable. He then chuckled, remembering how it was her imperfections that made him fall for her in the first place.

"You're the one leaving on your own. You like leaving me alone in that ramen shop a lot that even the shop owner already understood and let me go without paying." He said with a humorous tone. She blushed and lifted her head from his embrace.

"I only left you there twi-" She stopped when she saw him holding a small box in front of her eyes. She gaped a few times and he chuckled.

"It's not a ring yet." He said, understanding the meaning of her look, and her expression became a little disappointed. "What I'm proposing today is not a marriage yet." He said shyly.

"Then?" She asked, her tears had stopped. He opened the box and took out a key. "Won't you move in with me, Kaoru? I know that it's going to be a little inconvenient if you don't live at the doujo, but I was hoping you'd say yes, since I'm moving to a place between my office and the doujo. This way at least we would see each other everyday."

She stared at the key, a little speechless and embarrassed. Of course her Kenshin would think of a way to fix the distance between them. Both of them were fighters who would never give up just because they were faced with a problem. Her insecurities made her forget that those qualities made their relationship lasted longer than what everyone expected.

"Why now...?" She asked.

"Because I'm at my limit. I'm starting to get depressed because I can't see you or hear your voice." He said, resting his head on her shoulder. "I want to talk to you, to eat and drink with you, to be able to hug and kiss and make love to you." He mumbled, and she ruffled his short, red hair. Even a capable man like him had his cute side, especially when he was desperate.

"You're mushy."

"Sorry."

She smiled and kissed his cheek, and whispered. "When should I move my stuff?"


End file.
